Plastics have become commonplace materials in nearly every aspect of modern society. Their prevalence is due in part to the ability to create plastics with desirable properties such as heat tolerance, high strength, chemical resistance, etc. As the applications for plastics grow, efforts continue to further improve the desirable properties and to control other properties.
One property of interest is the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE). Some applications for plastics require the materials to undergo temperature cycling with a minimum of thermal expansion. A typical solution for controlling thermal expansion is to modify the plastic through the addition of a low-CTE filler such as silica. The addition of silica may be effective to reduce CTE, but may in turn adversely affect other properties of the plastic, such as the viscosity of the uncured plastic.
Another property of interest is the toughness of the plastic. A typical solution for improving toughness is to modify the plastic through the addition of a rubber-like agent such as polybutadiene. The addition of polybutadiene may be effective to improve toughness, but may in turn adversely affect other properties of the plastic.